CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER And GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Set For 2014

Marvel have confirmed that the Thor sequel will be entitled,Thor: The Dark World,as well as revealing that the Russo Brothers will helm Captain America: The Winter Soldier and the roster of Guardians of the Galaxy. Josh Wilding - 7/14/2012

We're working on 4 movies in active development

As we speak, Alan Taylor, director on Game of Thrones, is directing Thor 2 or should I say THOR: The DARK WORLD

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Creators Reflect On Team's Creation And Movie Adaptation

Offering brief thoughts on the Guardians of the Galaxymoviee,while reflecting on the team's creation,hit the jump for comments from the characters' creators & editorial members. DCMarvelFreshman - 8/7/2012

Reportedly leading directly into Marvel's The Avengers 2015 sequel,which Joss Whedon is officially onboard to write & direct,Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy adaptation is gaining hype especially. And Vulture recently whipped up a descent rundown on each character so-far confirmed. And excerpts from the rundown offer comments from the superhero team's creators,and those who helped revive them,dotting on the team and their live-action adaptation.

A former member of the editorial staff that revived the team says, “A lot of these characters were sort of laying around. We thought, 'No one really seems to have a great deal of affection for them, so maybe we can push the Marvel science-fiction universe a little further.'”

In regards to the galactic team not being as recognizable as A-list teams like the X-Men and Fantastic Four,Rocket Raccoon co-creator Keith Giffen thinks that that fact granted them more freedom with the characters' direction.

“It's the lighthearted, fun, quip-filled, bouncy stuff that fits in pretty well with all the stuff [Marvel Studios] are already doing, and going out into space will be a nice change of setting.”

Another ex-employee of the editorial staff agrees with Griffen,adding that the the lack of expectation that motivated the Guardians comic book creators could be a similar scenario with the movie's developers. “Everyone has a firm idea of who and what Spider-Man is. If you stray too far from that, people will say, 'That's not the Spider-Man that I know,' and they're disappointed. Whereas if you throw a bunch of characters like Drax on amoviee screen, there are relatively few people who have some idea in their head.”

Moving on to character specific comments,describing Groot,a walking-talking tree,an ex-staffer implies he's “A creature of wood, who feeds on wood!. Keith Giffen,who helped reboot Draxthe Destroyer,states that the green warrior is “too macho for the room. I just turned him from a green imbecile into a green douchebag.” And lastly,not having anything to offer for Gamora and Rocket Raccoon,Star-Lord creator Steve Englehart had much for him.

“I deliberately made him a complete asshole, with the idea that I was going to write twelve stories about him as he worked his way through the galaxy, and by the end of it he would have become this great hero.”Showcasing his "sharp humor" with the character's name,Englehart adds “Peter Quill —Peter as a reference to a dick, and Quill as a reference to a dick. I wanted him to be completely unlikable.”

- Daredevil Visionaries Vol 1-3: Because sooner or later I’m going to have to have an opinion on what to do with Daredevil as a fan.

- Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) #1-6 : Because between here and Marvel’s Phase 2 Film Universe, some stuff is going to get stitched together.

Gamora, Adam Warlock, Rocket Raccoon, Groot – some good characterization goes down in the comics. Maybe it’s living in the age of the internet but the two characters that you’d think would be the least human (Rocket the genetically different Raccoon and Groot a giant tree person) are the easiest to plug into. Drax (the green guy) and Gamora (the green girl) have Thanos-centric backstories that may (or may not) make it into the film and Adam Warlock…well, we’ll be having a lot of discussions about Adam Warlock if he shows up in the movies, because he’d likely have a key part in ‘Avengers 2′ if The Infinity Gauntlet is the comic most likely to be adapted.

Rumor and speculation aside, the character I’m having the hardest time understanding is Star-Lord, the guy at the center of the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ concept art. He is a human and his name is Peter Quill. Peter is a half-alien offspring boy born in Colorado who dreamed of going to the stars and kind of tricked his way into becoming the Star-Lord by booting out the guy NASA actually chose to be the Star-Lord. If that sounds complicated, try this:

Take Hal Jordan from the Green Lantern movie, make him an astronaut, and pretend he was always half-alien. That’s a close approximation.

Anyway, Production Weekly and On The Grid are listing the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ production and both have the same log-line, suggesting it might be legit:

About a U.S. pilot who ends up in space in the middle of a universal conflict and goes on the run with futuristic ex-cons who have something everyone wants.

The U.S. pilot, if I were to hazard a guess is Quill. Which is great, because that’s the character I need something extra to hold on to, and he seems to be at the center of ‘Guardians.’ The futuristic ex-cons are likely the other members of ‘GotG’ and the fact that they are ‘Ex-Cons’ makes me wonder what world’s law were playing with. If Thanos is a God elsewhere, it wouldn’t surprise me if Thanos’ law is actually what makes them convicts to begin with. That would help explain Gamora and Drax without altering their comics personas too much.

As for the thing that everyone wants? I think it’s The Infinity Gauntlet. Or at least the majority of the Infinity Gems that make up the Gauntlet. Those little magical MacGuffins are taking the place of Phase 1′s Tesseract, so I’m just waiting to see how they come into play.

James Gunn In Talks to Direct Marvel's 'Guardians of the Galaxy' (Exclusive)

11:59 AM PDT 8/18/2012 by Borys Kit

The "Slither" and "Super" helmer is the studio's choice to shepherd the superhero space fantasy.

James Gunn has emerged as Marvel Studios' choice to direct its upcoming space superhero saga Guardians of the Galaxy.

After a lengthy search, sources say that Marvel executives now are talking exclusively with Gunn, whose previous credits include the genre films Slither and Super. The studio is said not to have ruled out others in the running —Peyton Reed (Bring It On, Yes Man) and Half Nelson helming team Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden were in the mix, according to sources — in case talks with Gunn's reps do not lead to a deal. Marvel is said to like Gunn's sensibility and his ability to mix comedy elements with action and horror, a quality he shares with The Avengers director Joss Whedon, who, with his exclusive contract with Marvel, is now a major architect of the company's expanding universe. Marvel declined to comment.

Galaxy is the first original title in Marvel’s “Phase 2" of movies, which also includes Iron Man 3, sequels to Captain America and Thor, and Avengers 2.

Marvel officially announced the movie at Comic-Con. Earlier this month, THR reported that it hired Chris McCoy to rewrite the space adventure movie, which had a previous draft of a script by Nicole Perlman.

While there have been several incarnations of the Guardians team in the comics over the years, the movie’s lineup will include Drax the Destroyer, a human resurrected as a green warrior with the sole purpose of killing Thanos (the villain in the Avengers final-scene tease); Groot, a giant tree-man; Star-Lord, a gun-toting half-human/half-alien intergalactic vigilante; Rocket Raccoon, a genetically engineered animal with a knack for guns and explosives; and Gamora, the last survivor of her species who was saved by Thanos to be his assassin but now battles him.

Earlier this week a logline made the rounds describing the plot as concerning “a U.S. pilot who ends up in space in the middle of a universal conflict and goes on the run with futuristic ex-cons who have something everyone wants."

If a deal comes together, it would mark yet another unconventional director choice for a big Marvel movie. The studio raised eyebrows by handing over Iron Man to a then-untested Jon Favreau, Thor to Kenneth Branagh, who was known for arthouse pics, and The Avengers to TV showrunner Whedon. All the movies became international hits.

Guardians would be a major break for Gunn, who is best known for directing the low-budget Super and Slither. Super, released in 2010, is an indie action comedy starring Rainn Wilson and Liv Tyler about a schlub who decides to be a superhero despite lacking any skills. Slither is a horror comedy made by Gold Circle Films that starred Nathan Fillion and Elizabeth Banks. Slither only made $7.7 million domestically, though a galactic sum compared to Super’s $322,000 domestic take.

But Gunn, who wrote Warner Bros’s live-action Scooby-Doo movie and its sequel, has a cult following and rose through the moviemaking machine of low-budget farm Troma Entertainment, run by genre king Lloyd Kaufman.

Following reports yesterday evening that James Gunn (Super) is in late stage talks with Marvel Studios to direct 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy, it was also revealed that Peyton Reed (Yes Man) and directing duo Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden (Half Nelson) were being considered by the studio should talks with Gunn not work out. Well, it appears as if we can now cross the latter two off the list as The Playlist reports that their reps have told them their involvement with the big screen adaptation is untrue. This seems odd, especially as the most we get is a "No Comment" in similar circumstances. Perhaps they're trying to save face as they weren't chosen to direct the film? Either way, James Gunn has been a little more forthcoming, teasing fans via his Twitter account, only to later delete those Tweets. Stay tuned! Guardians of the Galaxy will be released on August 1st, 2014.

Guardians of the Galaxy Writers Talk Translation to Film by Spencer Perry August 24, 2012 Share this story

'It's a huge compliment'

Comic writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning have a knack for writing space stories, which collectively we've all dubbed "cosmic." The pair are responsible for the 2008 interpretation of the Guardians of the Galaxy of which the newest Marvel Studios film appears to be heavily influenced by.

In an interview with CBR, the pair talked about the movie and what it means to them to see their characters put up on the big screen. Here's an excerpt from the interview:

And now as a testament to the work you guys did there, Marvel is making a "Guardians of the Galaxy" movie which, from the concept art, seems to feature your core team. What was your initial reaction to that happening? Did you expect that they might even make a cartoon of this cast let alone a full Hollywood movie?

Abnett: Not at all. The fact that Marvel has decided that that makes good sense for them to do, it's a huge compliment. We're very excited to see what happens, and we're very excited to see where they go with it. I think anybody -- I don't care how devoted a Star-Lord or Rocket Raccoon fan you were even two years ago -- who would have said that this would make a great main movie would have been laughed off. It's such an unlikely thing to do. So I think it's lovely to work on something and expose its potential to the point where a company like Marvel will say, "Yes, this makes sense." We're very excited. It's very interesting to look at it happening.

Lanning: And it was one of those things where we were approached to do the Guardians episode of "Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes." We wrote that story, which was one of those things where you're thinking, "Wow! They're taking our guys seriously!" Chris Yost, who contacted us to do that episode, was very generous to let us write it. I think there was a sniff in the air that these characters had potential, but to actually use our cast to make a movie is fantastic. We've been on the record saying that as much as anybody, we're happy to sit back as fans and enjoy the ride. We hope it does this justice and do all the things this idea has the potential to achieve.

And as a follow up, have you been involved at all in the process of the movie whether in terms of consulting on the film or any kind of financial gain?

Abnett: These are Marvel's characters, and they will develop them as they see fit. Like I said, it's a huge compliment to us that they're doing that, but I think it's only fair to say that we haven't really been consulted in any way, shape or form. We wrote this stuff essentially as work-for-hire, and if Marvel came to us and said, "Would you like to consult on the movie?" that would be lovely. But for now, our interpretation is there on the page.

Lanning: I think that's the way the business works sometimes. Sometimes you do get consulted and it's fantastic, but other times they just do the movies on their own. They're using the comics as a source material, and what they do with that, they're at liberty to do. You have to be professional about that and see the fact that they're using this material as a huge compliment anyway. And if at any point they consult us or we get a ticket to the premier, that's a cherry on the cake as far as we're concerned. Of course, we'd be involved at the drop of a hat. Who wouldn't be? But you've also got to be professional about the whole thing.

Guardians of the Galaxy is scheduled to hit theaters on August 1, 2014.

Akin to Joss Whedon teasing Marvel's The Avengers untitled sequel while promoting the original box office behemoth in Japan, a few weeks ago, Marvel Studios' president of production made an effort to tease the 2014 movie coming before The Avengers reassemble; Guardians of the Galaxy. In yet another rough translation, via Japanese blog Nifty, Kevin Feige seemingly explains why the Guardians were greenlit, among other things.

During the Q&A session published only three days ago, Kevin Feige revealed the reason he and the studio are moving forward with Guardians of the Galaxy is because he “wanted to do something with it space.” He continues, “I've got a story I wanted to tell the world [that is] not directly related with the characters of "The Avengers," [until?] a little later.” While the Guardians & The Avengers aren't exactly “related,” it's strongly believed the former movie will lead directly into the latter's upcoming sequel in 2015; hence “a little later.”

Moving along, that response prompted the interviewer to bring up the otherworldly villain, Thanos, who made his live-action debut during Marvel's The Avengers mid-credits stinger. After being asked flat out would the Mad Titan appear in Guardians of the Galaxy, Feige apparently grins before saying, “I'm out (laughs) of course, because there is meaning [to the credits stinger].” Considering the so-far confirmed Guardians roster includes characters linked to Thanos, his inclusion is almost inevitable. However, today it's seemingly been confirmed.

Joss Whedon Confident In James Gunn's ‘Twisted Take’ On GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXYRevealing the current stage of James Gunn's involvement, Marvel's The Avengers writer-director Joss Whedon says the Super director has a “twisted take” on Guardians of the Galaxy!DCMarvelFreshman - 9/10/2012The untitled sequel to The Avengers is the only cinematic addition to Marvel's shared universe that writer-director Joss Whedon is contracted to helm. However, his three-year deal with the studio allows his “creative” input into the other “Phase 2” films that will ultimately lead up to Earth Mightiest Heroes' big reassembly.

And with Marvel's risky interstellar superhero assembly, Guardians of the Galaxy on that “Phase 2” slate, and rumored to lead directly into The Avengers sequel, surely Whedon will be in the know. And that's especially so considering the studio tapped his good friend, James Gunn, to direct the 2014 flick last month. And while promoting his praised take on the classic William Shakespeare comedy, Much Ado About Nothing, the critically acclaimed filmmaker shared with MTV News what he thought of Gunn's direction so far.

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“James is what makes me think it will work. I myself was sort of like, 'Well, I liked Rocket Raccoon as a kid, but I'm not sure how that plays [to a wider audience].' And then they said, 'Well, we're thinking about using James Gunn.' And I said, 'Oh, then no, you're fine.' He is so off the wall, and so crazy, but so smart, such a craftsman and he builds from his heart. He loves the raccoon. Needs the raccoon. This is the guy who wrote 'The Specials.' People don't understand how influential that movie was about heroes, about taking heroes and making them mundane. And [he directed] 'Super.' Gunn has barely started, but already has a very twisted take on it, but it all comes from a real love for the material. It's going to be hard for the humans to keep up," said Whedon. "I know he's going to come from left field and I'm going to go, 'What?' And then, 'Of course, why didn't I think of that?' And then I'm going to beat him!”

Marvel Studios presents “Guardians of the Galaxy”—the big cinematic event exploring an interstellar super hero team-up, featuring Marvel characters Star-Lord, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Groot and Rocket Raccoon. While story details are under wraps, the film is rumored to lead with a U.S. pilot who ends up in space in the middle of a universal conflict and goes on the run with futuristic ex-cons who have something everyone wants.

From a screenplay by Nicole Perlman and Chris McCoy, “Guardians of the Galaxy” is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series “Guardians of the Galaxy,” first published in 1969 and revived in 2008. While a director and ensemble cast have yet to be announced, “Guardians of the Galaxy” will assemble on August 1, 2014. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures will distribute the film. In addition to “Guardians of the Galaxy”, Marvel Studios will release a slate of films based on other iconic Marvel characters including “Iron Man 3” on May 3, 2013; “Thor: The Dark World ” on November 8, 2013; “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” on April 4, 2014; and the currently-untitled sequel to “Marvel's The Avengers,” the third highest grossing film of all time, on May 1, 2015.

This just in, there are three characters on the Guardians who are drawing most of the focus “at the moment:” Star-Lord, Gamora and Drax The Destroyer. These three characters are getting visual and backstory updates to meld them into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and going off the plot we already know ( “a U.S. pilot who ends up in space in the middle of a universal conflict and goes on the run with futuristic ex-cons who have something everyone wants.”), it’s easy to see how Star-Lord, Peter Quill, will hijack his way into space and meet up with the roving future Guardians.

Gamora and Drax getting the highlight treatment over Rocket Raccoon and Groot makes sense since the traditional backstories for both of those characters tie them to ‘Guardians’ and ‘Avengers 2′ villain Thanos (Gamora was adopted by Thanos and Drax was a man whose consciousness was transferred into the Drax body with the express purpose to kill the Mad Titan at the behest of Kronos). Also, Rocket Racoon and Groot are not humanoid characters, so – yeah – it’ll probably be easy not to focus on them

Basically, look for these backstories to get re-tooled and these costumes to be updated.

IN RUMORVILLE (Read: Da7e-speculation): Gamora is tied to both Adam Warlock (who us comic nerds are half-assuming will make an appearance in ‘Guardians’) and Nova, who has been rumored to be part of ‘Guardians’ ever since the official concept art had Nova stars in the background.

Universal Conflict? We know we can’t have the Skrulls or Kree, so why not Nova corps?

_________________BJ Routh and Bryan Singer WERE the worst thing to happen to Superman since Bepo the Super Monkey.

James Gunn reveals new Rocket Raccoon production art for GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY!

Published at: April 4, 2013, 4:34 a.m. CST Share On Facebook Twitter

Folks, Harry here... Can you believe this? We are actually getting these movies. Today I was reading SWAMP THING 50 and looking at Bissette's art and thinking, Guillermo is gonna knock this out of the park. And then I was checking my Facebook before turning in and I saw this new profile pic from James Gunn. I guarantee - every boy and girl in this country is gonna do back flips for Rocket Raccoon - and you will too. He'll kick the shit out of TED. Tear him to fluff. Blow him up and flambe' him. Take a look at this piece Gunn released:

Beyond just the fantastic look of RR himself, I love the orange jumper with weapon straps criss-crossing him. I also love the moody look of the piece - a very haunted planet look. With Gunn, they've got a director that won't think any of this is weird or odd. He gets it. I really can't wait for a great plush Rocket Raccoon with Big Ass Gun.

For now, I just have to make this the background on my computer. I love it so much. I'd just die if they got Moroder to do the score for this.

_________________BJ Routh and Bryan Singer WERE the worst thing to happen to Superman since Bepo the Super Monkey.

James Stocks wrote:I don't know anything about Guardians of the Galaxy, but the fact that it has a raccoon with a firearm greatly appeals to the absurdist in me.

You'll want to track down some GOG comics then. To tangent, Howard the Duck may be up your alley too.

Do you suppose that HOWARD THE DUCK can ever be remade into a serious adaptation? I liked the original OK but I know it flopped even though it had George Lucas' name attached to it. Nevertheless it has since become a 'cult classic' that was finally released on DVD a few years ago after already having been on VHS. It was also an early attempt by MARVEL to have a film on the big screen. At that time Marvel was mostly known for the Hulk TV series as far as popular media went. 'Marvel Studios' was yet to be. And as far as Howard was concerned, I'm not an expert but didn't Steve Gerber create the character & the character was actually taken seriously by fans back then? The 'source material' & all of that? I even know that KISS made an appearance which I believe preceded their own special edition comic in blood. My guess then is that the film must have strayed from the original vision/version?

Personally I think GOTG will be a hit because it's Marvel Studios & also because it's part of the 'shared universe' concept which the fans can't get enough of & WB/DC have yet to comprehend. Anyway, I can see 'Rocket Raccoon' even being a big marketing tool with merchandise & everything. So my point is, why not use Howard again? But preferably in a 'source material' sort of way.

The fact that MARVEL is going for GOG really shows how much confidence they have in the material, no matter how outrageous. Never saw the HOWARD THE DUCK film, but the idea definitely sounds like something up my ally. A cantankerous chain smoking womanizing Donald Duck? That's right up my alley.

non_amos wrote:Do you suppose that HOWARD THE DUCK can ever be remade into a serious adaptation?

Well, "serious" may not be the right word. Gerber wanted the book to be existentialist and more than a little absurd. The writers (the Huycks? I forget) basically made it into a bit of a campfest... as I recall. Bear in mind, I haven't seen the movie since 1986 so maybe I'm wrong.

non_amos wrote:I liked the original OK but I know it flopped even though it had George Lucas' name attached to it.

Funny, innit? It's thought of as a millstone around George's neck but really all he did was produce the thing. To my understanding, he wasn't involved with any creative aspects of the movie. Kind of like how The Nightmare Before Christmas is regarded as a "Tim Burton movie" even though he didn't direct the thing.

non_amos wrote:Personally I think GOTG will be a hit because it's Marvel Studios & also because it's part of the 'shared universe' concept which the fans can't get enough of

That's my view as well. I think we're either at or close to the point where "Marvel Studios" is a brand unto itself in a way kind of like Pixar.

non_amos wrote:Anyway, I can see 'Rocket Raccoon' even being a big marketing tool with merchandise & everything.

Ditto. Shit, if they do the thing right, this is an ideal vehicle for younger audiences that Marvel hasn't really reached just yet.

non_amos wrote:So my point is, why not use Howard again? But preferably in a 'source material' sort of way.

Well, Lucasfilm owned the film rights to Howard... Disney bought Lucasfilm... Disney already owns Marvel... I mean, the stars haven't been in this kind of positive alignment for Howard the Duck maybe ever but definitely not lately.

I know this is a Marvel Studios project & in the same universe as the other films but I'm nowhere near an authority on this property. Here's hoping though that the Marvel name will sell it, i.e., I hope there ain't just indifference to this film since it ain't Iron Man or something.

^ I wouldn't worry about it. History has taught me to never bet against Marvel. If they're willing to risk as much money as Guardians is going to cost, you can rest assured it'll be a kickass product.

In fact, with the admission that I've barely kept up with Guardians outside this forum, it looks like they're gearing this more toward kids. See, Marvel has this wacky idea that their characters can appeal to a broad cross section of people. Sounds nuts, I know, but hear me out. They have the Avengers for teens and twenty-somethings, sooner or later the Punisher for grittier, more adult-oriented audiences and now Guardians, presumably for small children. Anybody care to bet that kids will be shouting "I am Groot!" on the playground after Guardians hits?

WB, meanwhile, seems reluctant to acknowledge that their films are, yes, based on those strange "funny-books" or something. Whatever, just call Nolan, he'll figure out a way to make it less stupid somehow. Worked last time anyway.

*sigh*

Thinking back on it, I think every single post I've made here tonight is angry and ranty. Guess I'm in a grumpy mood or something. Fuck it, just ignore me.

You know, I'm happy that people are stoked for this and I really cherish how it's a waaaaaaay cosmic element of the Marvelverse that's getting the attention... but honestly, I'm sick to hell of hearing about this movie. (1) The way people have been spooging their pants over this movie, you'd think they were all lifelong fans. (2) All the sudden attention to this movie over the last year'ish and change... yeah, like I said it's cool that it's such a comic booky property getting its time in the sun but I'm probably more jazzed about Daredevil, Batman v. Superman (Snyder's earned minor excitement from me when it comes to Superman now) and Age of Ultron, m'self.

Hey, if you're up for the game right now for GOTG, good on you, but I'm kinda done with the insane hype it's getting.

thecolorsblend wrote:You know, I'm happy that people are stoked for this and I really cherish how it's a waaaaaaay cosmic element of the Marvelverse that's getting the attention... but honestly, I'm sick to hell of hearing about this movie. (1) The way people have been spooging their pants over this movie, you'd think they were all lifelong fans. (2) All the sudden attention to this movie over the last year'ish and change... yeah, like I said it's cool that it's such a comic booky property getting its time in the sun but I'm probably more jazzed about Daredevil, Batman v. Superman (Snyder's earned minor excitement from me when it comes to Superman now) and Age of Ultron, m'self.

Hey, if you're up for the game right now for GOTG, good on you, but I'm kinda done with the insane hype it's getting.

I'm anticipating 'GoTG'. Big time.

_________________BJ Routh and Bryan Singer WERE the worst thing to happen to Superman since Bepo the Super Monkey.